Collect Day #13, CESAR LONG, DINAH, GEORGE, ALICE & PAUL
You grant us this Lenten season, Lord, as a way to provide us with time to contemplate the most notorious of our sins; especially those that separate us from the rest of the body of Christ. Caesar and his wife, Dinah, lived separated from one another during their married lives, as was the custom of enslaved blacks even though they were free. Did they wish for reconciliation and forgiveness, for restoration to the sanctity that comes when persons belong wholly to one another? Turn our thoughts to the message of your pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel in such a way that we let the question, “What kept them apart?” be the same question we ask ourselves…”What keeps us apart from wholly belonging to one another in the human family?” Amen
DAY #13, February 28, 2018
CESAR LONG, DINAH, GEORGE, ALICE & PAUL
Hampton
Rev. Deborah Knowlton
Caesar Long is the first African American listed in the clergy Record Books of the First Congregational Church of Hampton, founded in 1638. Rev. Ward Cotton, seventh pastor of the church made the notation thus, “George Long, son of Cesar a free Negro, was baptized in 1756”. This one record, 8 words long, can tell us quite a lot about Cesar. We know, for example, that he was a man of faith for whom it was important to have his son baptized. We do not know, however, whether he was seated in the balcony, despite his status as free. The balcony seats were meant for two types of persons — either a person of little status who could not purchase a pew in the front row, or someone considered simple-minded, child-like and therefore, unable to truly grasp the complex theology of the two-hour sermons that were delivered. Cesar’s name does not appear in the list of pews, owners and purchase prices, but I do not believe him to have been simple-minded at all.
One wonders if Cesar might have escaped an earlier bondage, since there is an advertisement published in the Boston Gazette of May 1733 concerning a “Negro Man,” who had run away from his Master, Richard Long of Salisbury. However, it seems unlikely that a slave on the run would choose to run no farther than the town next door. Rather, Cesar’s freedom likely encouraged him to risk putting forth three cases for litigation. In 1757, he was a plaintiff in action against Hollis. In Hampton, he was a plaintiff twice — both cases in which he demanded payment for caring for, first, the Redman family during the smallpox epidemic, and later for Nathan Blake.
We also know that Cesar had children other than George, including Alice and Paul and two infants who died. They must have had a mother, but none is listed in Hampton. However, the North Hampton church records state, “Dinah, wife of Cesar Long” died in 1774 at age 55. Dinah seems also to have been free, simply not living with George and the children. This is advantageous since the children’s status as free could only be secured if their mother was free. The cause of Dinah’s death is listed as intoxication.
After her death, in 1776, Cesar enlisted in Capt. Samuel Nay’s company in Col. Joshua Wingate’s regiment, along with his son, Paul. It is believed that George also enlisted — perhaps later. A record from North Hampton indicates that Alice marries William Scott (a man of color) in 1791, has several children and succumbs to consumption in 1810. Paul marries Phebe Swain, has three or more children, all of whom were active in the life of the congregation, but several of whom also died of consumption. Paul must have been well-known in the town of North Hampton for after his wife’s death, he became completely blind and the town supported him at lodgings he shared with his sister’s husband, William Scott. Cesar Long and his family were faithful, patriotic persons who contributed much to the life of both the Hampton and North Hampton communities.
